Politics this week

To the delight of populists and the horror of the European Union, Switzerland voted in favour of quotas for EU migrants. The referendum was passed by a thin margin, but means free movement for EU citizens into Switzerland is no longer guaranteed. It also puts into question Swiss access to the EU single market. Germany’s foreign minister, Frank-Walter Steinmeier, criticised the vote, and said that “cherry-picking with the EU is not a sustainable strategy”. See article

Britain’s immigration minister resigned after it emerged that he employed a cleaner at his London home who is not entitled to work in the country. Mark Harper had spearheaded the government’s campaigns to crack down on illegal workers and to deter legal European migrants from coming to Britain.

Scotland’s Nationalists accused the three main political parties in Britain of “bullying” as they formally ruled out a currency union should Scots vote for independence in September’s referendum. Campaigning on the pro-union side has stepped up markedly over the past few weeks, amid concern that the pro-independence movement is gathering steam (though it is still behind in the polls). See article

François Hollande, the president of France, was welcomed warmly on a state visit to America. Previous grievances, such as France’s opposition to the Iraq war, were not mentioned. Mr Hollande flew solo following his break-up from Valérie Trierweiler. He was seated at a function between Barack and Michelle Obama, who declared “we love our French friends.”

After a breakdown in negotiations 18 months ago, the Greek-Cypriot and Turkish-Cypriot leaders at last started talking again at a UN compound in Nicosia about how to end the island’s division, in place since 1974. See article

The long haul

Another round of talks involving representatives of Syria’s government and opposition took place in Geneva. Little progress was visible, though hundreds of civilians were evacuated under a recent truce from the rebel-held and long-besieged part of the city of Homs.

Sectarian mayhem in the Central African Republic persisted, prompting a French general recently in charge of the peacekeeping force there to say it should be much reinforced if it is to have a chance of restoring peace. See article

Open to suggestions

The EU agreed to launch talks on a new trade-and-investment deal with Cuba. The talks may begin next month and are partly designed to encourage the island’s reforms and promote human rights. See article

Leaders of the Pacific Alliance countries—the trade bloc’s members are Chile, Colombia, Mexico and Peru—signed an agreement scrapping the bulk of tariffs on goods and services traded between them. The deal reinforced the contrast between the Alliance and Mercosur, Latin America’s other big trade group, which is far more protectionist.

At least two people died during an anti-government demonstration in Caracas, the capital of Venezuela. Violence also marred protests in other parts of the country, as discontent grows with the regime of Nicolás Maduro, the country’s president.

Canada’s ruling Conservatives unveiled a budget that would cut the deficit further in the 2014-15 fiscal year and yield a surplus the following year. Stephen Harper, the prime minister, has made balancing the budget a priority in advance of elections in 2015. See article

It’s taken only 65 years…

China and Taiwan held their first high-level talks since the end of the Chinese civil war in 1949. The two most senior cross-strait officials from each side met in the Chinese city of Nanjing in what is widely seen as a confidence-building exercise. In the past, all talks have gone through quasi-official organisations. See article

Thailand’s constitutional court rejected an opposition request to annul the general election that was held on February 2nd. The opposition, which wants Yingluck Shinawatra to resign as prime minister, disrupted the election and then claimed the poll violated the constitution because it was not completed in one day. Voting is scheduled to be held in April in constituencies where polling was thrown into disarray on February 2nd.

Senior diplomats from North and South Korea held talks, hastily set up at the North’s suggestion. They got nowhere, but promised a second round of discussions. John Kerry, America’s secretary of state, visited South Korea amid protests from the North about the South’s forthcoming military exercises with America. See article

America criticised Afghanistan’s decision to release 65 prisoners from the high-security Bagram prison, alleging that some of them were hardened terrorists. Afghanistan says Bagram is a “Taliban-making factory” that radicalises ordinary inmates. The UN reported that Afghan civilian casualties rose 7% last year, to 3,000.

Yoichi Masuzoe cruised to victory to become governor of Tokyo. He was backed by Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, and favours restarting Japan’s nuclear reactors, which have been shuttered since the 2011 earthquake and tsunami. See article

A brave man

John Boehner, the Republican Speaker of America’s House of Representatives, helped push through a vote to raise the federal debt ceiling, which passed without any conditions attached. The bill was supported by 28 Republicans and was notable for avoiding the Tea Party-infused dramas that have marked negotiations over the federal debt since 2009. See article

America’s Justice Department issued an edict to its staff to recognise same-sex marriage “as broadly as possible” under federal law. The policy will give gay couples the same rights as straight ones, so that, for example, gay spouses can refuse to testify against their husbands or wives.

Robert Hoffman, a former cryptology technician in the American navy, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for attempting to sell secrets to FBI agents posing as Russian operatives.

Ray Nagin, who was mayor of New Orleans when Hurricane Katrina struck in 2005, was found guilty of accepting bribes from contractors. He is the first mayor to be convicted for corruption in New Orleans, which has a reputation for flamboyant graft. See article